Foreign Investment Subject Matter Expert (SME) - OSW

Foreign Investment Subject Matter Expert (SME)
Overview

We are seeking an elite Foreign Investment Subject Matter Expert (SME) to provide high-impact guidance on the risks, opportunities, and strategic implications of foreign involvement in U.S. critical technologies, supply chains, and national-security-sensitive markets.

This role serves as a senior advisor across acquisition, industrial security, intelligence, and policy teams-evaluating foreign ownership, control, and influence (FOCI), supporting CFIUS-related analysis, and shaping organizational resilience against adversarial capital strategies.

You're the radar system for global money flows-spotting what the eye can't see and advising leadership before risk becomes reality.

Key Responsibilities
Foreign Investment & FOCI Risk Analysis

• Conduct expert analysis of foreign ownership structures, control mechanisms, and influence pathways that may impact U.S. national-security interests.
• Evaluate FOCI submissions, corporate hierarchies, key management personnel (KMP) data, and complex cross-border investment structures.
• Analyze foreign investment trends, sovereign strategies, and emerging market behaviors that pose potential risks to U.S. defense, tech, or critical infrastructure sectors.
• Provide SME-level interpretations of NISPOM, DCSA guidance, ODNI security requirements, and national-level mitigation frameworks.

CFIUS, Export Controls & Regulatory Support

• Support assessments related to CFIUS jurisdiction, critical technologies, sensitive personal data, and national-security factors.
• Advise leadership on export-control considerations (ITAR/EAR), transactional red flags, supply-chain vulnerabilities, and foreign acquirer risk profiles.
• Assist in preparing documentation, analysis, and recommendations for government submissions or internal readiness actions.
• Track legislative, regulatory, and geopolitical developments that may affect foreign investment review processes.

Strategic Threat & Market Intelligence

• Monitor foreign government industrial policies, strategic technology priorities, and investment patterns in U.S. and allied markets.
• Identify adversarial capital strategies, influence operations, or economic coercion efforts targeting the defense industrial base.
• Assess global mergers, acquisitions, venture investments, and partnerships that may introduce national-security risks.

Policy, Security & Compliance Integration

• Provide expert guidance on compliance with FOCI mitigation agreements, Special Security Agreements (SSA), Proxy Agreements (PA), Voting Trusts, and Corporate Governance structures.
• Support internal security teams with due-diligence validation, FOCI updates, and subcontractor risk assessments.
• Ensure organizational decisions align with federal security regulations, industrial security requirements, and national-security policy priorities.

Executive & Mission Support

• Deliver strategic briefings and decision-ready products to senior leadership, security officers, legal advisors, and federal partners.
• Prepare reports, dashboards, risk summaries, and red-flag assessments for internal and external stakeholders.
• Facilitate cross-functional coordination between legal, intel, acquisition, industrial security, and supply-chain teams.
• Respond rapidly to emergent reviews, surge requirements, and crisis-driven tasking.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in International Business, National Security, Economics, Political Science, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 7-12+ years of experience analyzing foreign investment, economic security, international business structures, or industrial security.
• Strong working knowledge of:
  
  
  • CFIUS regulations & FIRRMA
  • FOCI requirements & DCSA/NISPOM frameworks
  • Corporate structure analysis & beneficial ownership mapping
  • Export controls (ITAR/EAR)
• Experience supporting DoD, IC, DHS, DOE, or other national-security stakeholders.
• Ability to analyze highly complex corporate and financial information with precision.
• Eligible for a security clearance; TS/SCI strongly preferred.

Desired Qualifications

• Direct experience supporting CFIUS filings, mitigation agreements, or national-security reviews.
• Background in corporate due diligence, financial forensics, or international regulatory compliance.
• Familiarity with adversarial investment strategies (e.g., PRC military-civil fusion, state-backed tech acquisition).
• Advanced analytics, data modelling, or visualization skills for corporate network mapping.
• Experience working with ODNI, DCSA, or other clearance-adjudicating agencies.

Key Competencies

• Geostrategic Insight: Reads global capital flows like weather patterns-predictive, pattern-aware, and proactive.
• Analytical Precision: Breaks down complex ownership webs into clear strategic risk narratives.
• Regulatory Mastery: Deep fluency in CFIUS, FOCI, NISPOM, and export-control landscapes.
• Executive Presence: Communicates with clarity, authority, and mission-level gravitas.
• Security Integrity: Uncompromising respect for classified information and sensitive corporate data.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Orchestrates collaboration across legal, intel, acquisition, and industrial security teams.

Work Environment & Expectations

• High-tempo, mission-focused environment with rapidly evolving national-security demands.
• Expect surge seasons, quick-turn tasking, and tight coordination across multi-agency partners.
• Strict compliance with security protocols, classification requirements, and foreign-contact reporting.
• Occasional travel for stakeholder engagement, due diligence, or policy/industry forums.